How to get rid of ants

As Spain begins to warm up (close to 30C today), many ants decide to expand their environment and look for places with good water and food sources. One of the many ways they get into a house is by traveling along the 'super highways' of pipes, ducting, and wiring we kindly provide them within our houses.

A few years back we were invaded by two our three different types of ants. They particularly liked the dog and cat bowls. Even with careful cleaning and hygiene it can be difficult to ensure there is not a ready source of take-away food to attract them.

Last week I rather stupidly left an almost empty (the remnants that would not fit in the sealed jar) of sugar on a kitchen surface. Cue ant population from the immediate vicinity to invade in large numbers.

From my earlier experiences I had performed a search for a suitable method of removing or deterring them. Several suggestions were - pour petrol on the nest and drop a match, use "insert toxic chemical name here"... Clearly, as we have two dogs and a cat and this is inside the house, none of the standard or somewhat bizarre methods were either appropriate or safe to any living being. We did find one seemingly rather odd proposal though.

First you need to understand how ants find food, nip back to the nest to tell their mates (who then hop onto their Harley's or into their SUV's) and then arrive in a long line of persistent visitors.

Ants have a very good sense of smell. When ants spread out looking for food, if one finds a source it heads back and along the way relays the message with its feelers to other ants. There is the message or scent trail they leave as they walk along and the rather odd fact that ants count their steps and have excellent directional (polarisation) abilities. Recent research (free registration is required) has established exactly how this is done. Apparently, ants collect ultra-fine-grained iron oxide and aluminum silicate crystals from the soil and these are placed into the three main joints of their antennae.

A possible solution might be to drop a mini neutron bomb or to incorporate some rare earth magnets into your house or kitchen design. While these would possibly work, the practicality is somewhat in question.

Before I knew of this, the 'odd proposal' that was suggested was tried out. Incredibly, this proved to be really effective. In a matter of minutes the ants went from a steady stream to a few lost souls wandering around and bumping into the furniture.

The solution? Cinammon powder.

The smell masks any food smell, the ants feet lose grip and they cannot count, and the particles of the powder interefere with the iron oxide they have in their antennae.

Be aware that cinammon powder can stain. Particularly absorbent surfaces. If so, simply place a paper towel on flat surfaces and sprinkle the powder on there. For other surfaces you need to determine the practicality and 'safety' of this yourself. Trust me it works, it is 'safe' when compared with ant traps or chemicals, and there is the nice smell of cinnamon to boot.

Now I know the scientific reason for this I am a happy man.